Mark Burnett, the famous television producer responsible for such reality shows as Survivor and The Apprentice, is looking for teams of contestants to compete in a new race that will send them to remote places, where they’ll solve problems and compete in various challenges.

The new show is entitled Expedition Impossible and seems to resemble The Amazing Race, at least on a cursory level. The program will pit teams of three against one another as they race through deserts, up mountains, and across rivers. In all, there will be ten legs to the race, with a new one being revealed each week, as the contestants battle it out for the, as of yet, undisclosed prize.

The casting notice can be read in full by clicking here, but in a nutshell, the three people on each team will need to have the entire month of April free to compete in this race. All competitors must also be 18 years of age or older, be a resident of the United States and hold a valid U.S. passport that is good through the end of 2011.

To be considered for the show, teams will need to send the following information to David Polanzak at dpo.casting@gmail.com:

• Name, age, location and contact info for all three (3) team members
• Recent photo of all 3 team members
• Level of individual and team’s experience with competitions/races, etc.
• Brief description of why your team is great for this competition and why you will win
• Anything else that makes your team memorable and unique

Expedition Impossible sounds a bit like a project that Burnett produced back in the mid-1990’s called Eco-Challenge, which saw teams of four racing non-stop against one another through a remote course in some of the most challenging environments on the planet. It’s doubtful that this new show will come anywhere close to being as challenging as that race, but it sounds interesting for adventurous travelers looking to compete in a reality television show. I can’t wait to hear more details about the race.

It is kind of sad when a country needs to wrap a reality show around foreign travel. At the same time, if this is the way to get more Americans to travel abroad, more power to ABC.

ABC has ordered a new unscripted show from the producer of “Hell’s Kitchen” in which Americans go to a foreign country to compete in challenges. The series might be called “Big in Japan” (sorry, Matthew) and is supposed to combine reality and game show elements as contestants adapt to another culture while competing.

This could either be A) really funny or B) totally boring, filled with stereotypes (the stupid ones, not even the funny ones), such as the one about the ugly American walking into a sushi bar demanding a peanut butter sandwich and such. Oh, no. I just created a monster!